TORMENTED Synonyms: 156 Similar and Opposite Words

tormented 1 of 2

adjective

as in tortured

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tormented

2 of 2

verb

past tense of torment

as in plagued

to cause persistent suffering to he was tormented by nightmares about the accident

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of tormented

Verb

The other was a decent man constantly being tormented by God in order to test his faith. — Chuck Lorre, Vanity Fair, 7 Oct. 2026 The Eagles, of course, have tormented the league with that play. — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 25 Sep. 2026 The series follows a group of Los Angeles teenagers in the 1980s who are being tormented by a serial killer known as the Trawler. — Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026 Parents of children murdered at Sandy Hook in 2012 were tormented for years by conspiracy theorists who claimed their kids hadn’t really died. — Elle Reeve, CNN Money, 8 Sep. 2026 About a month after that, the financier, tormented by fears of further investigation, died of apoplexy. — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2026 Leite is one week removed from giving Angel Reese and Howard fits in Atlanta, while Astier has tormented the Fever duo of Clark and Aliyah Boston. — Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026 Saeed and Nadia live in an unnamed country tormented by civil war—and meanwhile, there are rumors of mysterious doors, portals that lead to other places. — Chloe Benjamain, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2026 Nosferatu In 2024 Depp appeared in Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu as Ellen Hutter, a young woman tormented and nearly possessed by the film’s titular vampire. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tormented

Adjective

Our tortured contemporary education is a logical outgrowth of its origin story.

— Kamau Bobb October 21, Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2026
Earlier works tinging with an obscure kind of darkness that hinted at tortured psychological states have all but disappeared from her work and living quarters in lieu of an elegant old world charm.

— Francesca Aton, ARTnews.com, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of tortured

Verb

But he was plagued by guilt over his ancestor’s role in the trials, and felt compelled to explore themes of human character, greed, and social decay through his work.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
Joan realizes that her mother’s vanishing meshes with a larger tapestry of tragedy that has plagued their family over the years.

— Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of plagued

Adjective

Plenty of others, namely frustrated fans, are pondering the other stuff for him.

— ABC News, ABC News, 2 Nov. 2026
Middlewood, who is based in Kansas, does not expect frustrated rural voters to shift to the Democratic Party, given how long the state has been a Republican stronghold.

— Sarah Raza, Chicago Tribune, 2 Nov. 2026

Definition of frustrated

Verb

The company named all its weapons after Ukrainian intellectuals and artists killed or persecuted by Russians in the last century.

— Joanna Kakissis, NPR, 29 Oct. 2026
During this same time his father had vanished behind the Bamboo Curtain and was almost certainly persecuted, possibly even murdered, by the same Communists that Hoover claimed to be fighting.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of persecuted

Adjective

Others were placed under house arrest, harassed or subject to extensive surveillance, or had their passports confiscated, according to prior NPR reporting and the findings of the United Nations and rights groups.

— Emily Feng, NPR, 17 May 2026
For years, Christian clergy who live and work in Jerusalem have reported being frequently spat on, harassed and even physically attacked by Israeli extremists.

— Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 1 May 2026

Definition of harassed

Verb

Calle 13 became famous not just for its edgy rap and urban music, but also for loudly calling out the economic and social inequalities that afflicted Puerto Rico.

— Helena Alonso Paisley, Miami Herald, 28 Oct. 2026
His central claim is that mental health culture has created a situation where over time, the people who are least afflicted get the most attention.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of afflicted

Verb

And they would be besieged with lobbying as the private sector tried to realign itself.

— Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026
Mehra – director of 2016 pic Baar Baar Dekho and creator of Prime Video series Big Girls Don’t Cry – says that while Indian audiences are besieged by films and TV content right now, where Hunkkaar has cut through is in its subject matter.

— Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of besieged

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“Tormented.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tormented. Accessed 4 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of tormented

adjective

verb

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